Various - Gouveia Artrock 2003

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Portugal Progressivo
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: DVD
Total Time: 85:00:00

Although having spent my summer vacation in Portugal on two occasions (in Burgau to be precise), I must say I was rather surprised to find progressive rock alive and kicking in this part of the world. True, when I was visiting Lagos in the sunny Algarve for the first time, there was a record fair that went on for almost a week, whilst every night there were free concerts. One evening, a so far unknown Portugese fusion collective delivered some tasty material culminating into parts of Camel's The Snowgoose. I know Portugal also is home to the prog outfits Tantra and Forgotten Suns, whilst Rick Wakeman's drummer Tony Fernandez now also resides in Portugal, but this to me is as far as prog goes in that sunny part of Europe. However, by means of the mighty Internet, I was informed about the existence of a true prog festival held in Gouveia, Portugal. With the help of none other than the mayor, some prog enthusiasts were able to stage a true prog festival featuring Saturnia, Nil and La Maschera di Cera. This all happened on July 6th, 2003 and although both Nil and La Maschera di Cera played for a cool two hours, only around half an hour's worth of highlights of both bands is included on this DVD.

It is a daring experience to put two rather unknown bands on stage that particular evening, and meanwhile make a DVD of the event as well. Maybe La Maschera di Cera is better known than Nil, but on a larger scale even our Italian friends are regarded as being reserved for specialized proggers only. In both cases the DVD offers a soundcheck section where we get short interviews with the band members as well as a band section where by means of photographs the various band members are introduced. In the case of the band Nil, once again their French chauvinism means that they only address themselves to an international audience in their native language. Where La Maschera di Cera is concerned they only speak Italian. Because no subtitles are added, I'm sure few people will actually understand what they're on about. I think it's about time these people start to understand that if they are given the chance to present themselves on a high quality DVD, with an intended international release, the least they can do is rehearse a little English so everyone knows what they're on about! For the Portugese people in the audience, luckily singer Roselyne Berthet from Nil had written a few words in Portugese, which of course is highly appreciated by the public! Obrigada! Whilst La Maschera di Cera turns to English in order to introduce the tracks during the concert. Finally they understand!

Shot by various cameras set up in different angles from the nice location, both live recordings offer a nice introduction into the original world of both bands, whether this is from an audio point of view or from the visual side of things. In the case of Nil, their "Quarante Jours Sur Le Sina?, Acte 1" track was probably enjoyed by our Portugese friends due to the Moorish influences. The rest of the tracks that are included on this DVD concern brand new recordings that will probably surface on the band's next album. "198" is a dark brooding percussive instrumental also including some tasty bass playing. A repetitive pattern on the stick forms the backbone for "D?rives," yet another new composition. The final newbie, "Abandon," starts with a short drum solo that doesn't really fit the bill here. Again some dark music accompanies the rather high pitched and fragile vocals of Roselyne. Judging from the audience, this is quite a difficult kind of music that needs a lot of effort to be fully appreciated, mainly due to the lack of strong melodies. From a visual point of view it's always nice to have a good looking girl like Roselyne Berthet front a bunch of ugly guys! Just joking here!

I'm sure that southern people like the Portugese enjoy melody much more than technical tour-de-force music. With La Maschera di Cera delivering music in the traditional style of authentic Italian progressive rock from the seventies, no doubt this music was enjoyed most. With two tracks pulled from the band's second album Il Grande Labirinto and by incorporating Tantra member Manuel Cardosa during "Dal Caos," for sure the band scored heavily with the Portugese audience. Their mixture of Genesis-like keyboard structures and flute driven passages was something most of those present enjoyed tremendously. "Dal Caos" is an instrumental track from another of Fabio Zuffanti's many projects, Finisterre, which can be found on the double album Harmony Of The Spheres in a live version, or in studio form on the self titled Finisterre album from 1994. From a visual perspective, all of the musicians had painted their faces whilst singer Alessandro Corvaglia also tried to add some theatrics. Strange how during the set of our Italian friends, the stage lighting does not work as perfect as it does during the concert with Nil. During La Maschera di Cera's set it all remains rather dark on stage, a pity as all of the musicians are dressed in black as well!

Whilst Nil's participation on this DVD lasts for a mere 36:12 and that of La Maschera di Cera a good 31:50, we are given an overview of the entire festival in a good five minutes. It shows us the venue, the music lovers entering the venue, the CD vendors in the hall. We see the presenter doing his job in Portugese, introducing the bands we've seen on DVD but also the third band on stage that day, which was the Portugese band Saturnia. Why wasn't this band included with half an hour of their own material like the other bands? Contractual matters? Surely not. Personally I find it a pity as this DVD is a nice souvenir from an exceptional day as held on 6th July 2003, yet it's not complete because Saturnia is not fully recognized on this disc. Nevertheless, I have to congratulate everyone involved in the making of this DVD enabling people who were not there to witness the event. Having seen many festivals in my life, I remember one certain festival in Holland with no less than eight prog acts, each playing for one hour to one and a half hours of incredible difficult music. This was not a festival to enjoy as it was close to torture! With only three bands on stage I think that's more than enough. By including only a portion of their respective sets it clearly gives an idea what to expect, thus being ideal promotion both for the bands and for those interested in this kind of music. It's also a great souvenir for the people who were there. Pity I saw plenty of empty spaces in the venue, so next time hopefully more people will find their way to this festival. The DVD also is a nice promotion for the hospitality of the city and if the mayor plays such a major role in all of this, why not include some footage of the area and the hotels next time around. It's all good promotion and nice for all those who weren't there to see what Gouveia is really like. Who knows we might be tempted to be there ourselves next time! I can only hope everyone involved learned plenty by doing this festival and whenever they decide to film another edition of Gouveia artrock, then please add much more visuals to the show by means of backdrops, slideshows, incorporating film, costumes, colour, etc?

This years' edition was held over a weekend with Forgotten Suns, Periferia del Mondo and Richard Sinclair Trio on 24th April and Fernando Guiomar, La Torre Dell'Alchimista and Isildurs Bane on 25th April. Not sure whether a DVD of this event will be made available, but Gouveia most certainly has become a very important asset in the cultural development of Portugal. Now if only they could track down where Tony Fernandez lives then maybe good old Rick Wakeman might come over from his residence in Tenerife and headline next year's festival. Now that would be great promotion!

The DVD can be obtained from most people who help out with the festival, retail price at around 17 euros (20 dollars).

* In response, Luis Loureiro, a member of the festival's staff, writes: "Nil and La Maschera di Cera speak in their native languages for the interviews because we asked them to do so. We knew that we would put subtitles afterwards. These guys are great people, believe me. No shade of chauvinism!" He adds, "Saturnia are a Portuguese duo of famous pop musicians. They didn't allow us to film and record their concert. It's a pity, I know, but we really couldn't go against their will." And about the DVD of 2004's festival, he says, "We are preparing already next year's DVD. Things are going just great for the participation of Isildurs Bane, La Torre dell'Alchimista, Periferia del Mondo and Forgotten Suns in the project. This year we recorded the whole event in much better conditions (a totally digital multi-camera set and 24-digital track recording) and I wouldn't be surprised if suddenly we started to have also live albums from the festival..."
Tracklisting:
Nil: Quarante Jours Sur Le Sinai, Acte 1 / 198 / D?rives / Abandon // La Mascera Di Cera: Ai Confini Del Mondo / Il Viaggio Nell'Oceano Capovolto, Part 1 / Dal Caos (with Manuel Cardoso of Tantra) / Bonus - impressions of the festival

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Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin VA

Added: August 22nd 2004
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

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